After breaking off for the Autumn Series and the World Series of Darts Finals, the PDC Home Tour II returns on Monday with seven more players battling it out for the spots in the second stage as competitive practice continues in the homes of those competing.
It appears that the goalposts have changed in terms of this only being for the lower ranked players as we have four top 32 stars on show on Monday in a competitive looking group which also gives a couple of players a second chance to progress.
The Format
Each day seven players will be in action on their home oches in a group stage format looking to progress. In every group in the tournament the seven players will each play each other once. In the first round the top three players in each group and the five best fourth-placed players go through to the second stage. Five groups are played out in the second phase with the top four in each making it through to the third stage along with the best fifth-placed player. The final stage begins with three more groups with the top two in each and the best third-placed player qualifying for the Championship Group where the champion is crowned. Each match throughout is the best of nine legs and the tournament will be streamed live on PDCTV or the consoles on the bookmaker websites.
Group 6 Recap
It was more than a week ago but it was a perfect day for Ryan Meikle in the Home Tour II when he won all six of his matches to make it safely through at a decent price. Ross Smith followed him home with five wins from his six outings while Gabriel Clemens was the third man officially through to the next round. Luke Woodhouse is left waiting to see if six points and a +1 leg difference gets him through to the next round. Ron Meulenkamp, Vincent van der Meer and William O’Connor had days to forget.
We also had a day to forget betting wise as our one bet for the day never landed. That was on Luke Woodhouse to overcome Ron Meulenkamp but despite having the throw in the contest the Englishman never really looked like he would get in a position to win let alone actually get the job done which was disappointing. Hopefully we can make up for that loss over the course of Monday and indeed all four groups this week.
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Group 7 Line Up
The Favourites
Jeffrey de Zwaan and Jonny Clayton are the joint favourites to come out of this group in top spot. That is certainly no surprise where Clayton is concerned because he went all the way to the final group of the first Home Tour. De Zwaan has been hampered by injury for a while but it is believed that he is coming out the other side now which is encouraging. Jermaine Wattimena and Stephen Bunting are both high profile players who are capable of coming through here. Bunting made a semi-final in the Autumn Series so he’s in decent form at the minute.
The Outsiders
There are three players at double figure prices in the group betting market. One of those is Ron Meulenkamp who is getting a second chance to make it through to the next stage. Nick Kenny competes in the tournament for the first time in Home Tour 2. He reached the semi-finals of one of the Autumn Series competitions so he shouldn’t be dismissed too lightly. William Borland is the other man in the group. He too gets a second chance here and is another who went well in an Autumn Series event. He made the last 16 of the first one before losing a deciding leg to Michael van Gerwen.
Group Betting
This is by far the best of the groups to date on paper at least and we should be guaranteed some great darts and a very competitive day overall. You’ve got to think the winner comes from one of the big four but given the Autumn Series form of Nick Kenny and William Borland they shouldn’t be dismissed completely. At 20/1 and 25/1 respectively they are a big price but you’ve got to think they’ll have to win at least three matches against the big four to top the group which might be stretching it a little.
Of the favourites if Jeffrey de Zwaan is over his injury as people suggest he is then he might be the one to get on because he could be a lunatic on his own board with no pressure on him. In saying that it is hard to oppose the man who played so well in Home Tour I in Jonny Clayton and I wouldn’t really want to be against Stephen Bunting either. That all makes me leave the group alone and just watch the action unfold.
Match Betting
I’ll go with a couple of bets over the course of Monday though. Stephen Bunting is in pretty decent form and he is always hard to break throw against so him being odds against with the said throw in his match against Jonny Clayton is very appealing. Bunting should be full of confidence after his run to a semi-final in the Autumn Series whereas Clayton was very average in that. I expect Clayton to be competitive over the course of the day but Bunting is good enough to hold throw enough to come through this one.
I’ll also take Jeffrey de Zwaan to ride the advantage of throw when he takes on Jermaine Wattimena. Both men are good players and capable of beating anyone else in this group but I think de Zwaan has more than an edge in the scoring department so with that and the throw he is going to be hard to beat unless he has an absolute mare on his doubles. Wattimena wasn’t fantastic in Home Tour I which would be a concern to be so I’m happy to be on de Zwaan here. I can’t believe he’d enter this tournament if he is injured, especially now the tour is slowly coming back so I’ll take him to hold onto the advantage of throw at a much bigger price than he should be with that advantage.
Tips
Back S.Bunting to beat J.Clayton for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with BetVictor
Back him here:
WON – Back J.de Zwaan to beat J.Wattimena for a 3/10 stake at 1.88 with 888sport
Back him here:
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